Staffordshire mum says more must be done to stamp out violent teenage groups
It's after her daughter was attacked by a group of 20 boys and girls while walking in Stone
The mum of a schoolgirl who was attacked in Staffordshire says society's becoming too unsafe for children to play outside - or even walk home from school.
Helen from Stone told us how her 15-year-old was targeted last Thursday in Stone's Westbridge Park by a group of 20 boys and girls - who punched and kicked her and then poured drinks over her head.
"I think they - the group - should face criminal charges. They're old enough some of them, and some of them older than her." said Helen.
Speaking about her daughters trauma post-attack, she said: "They're transferring her for some counselling for PTSD, she's having flashbacks and not sleeping, she's missed her mock exams because of it and she's not ready to go back to school.
"They pulled her hair, kicked her, stomped on her head, punched her, and poured drinks on her like Monster and Red Bull.
"This one then ran back at her and hit her 4-5 times again, and that went on for about 20 minutes.
"I think the police should be taking this seriously. They definitely need to up their presence here, the police need to patrol it more. And schools need to act on it more.
"There also needs to be workers for children of their age, more youth workers and key workers that they can go to and speak to."
In a statement Staffordshire Police said: "We’re investigating a report that a girl was repeatedly assaulted by a group of young people in Stone.
"The girl was walking in Westbridge Park, Stafford Street, at about 4.30pm (Thursday 6 March) when she was approached by a group of around 20 young people. Girls and boys were in the group at the time.
"The victim, aged 15, was punched, kicked and slapped.
"Anyone with any information is asked to get in touch by calling 101 or using Live Chat on our website, quoting incident 97 of 6 March."
Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.